To Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the Department of Education:

We are Team Hermes, a group of young adults who educate other young adults about financial literacy. In recent years, we have noticed that there is an extreme lack of financial literacy in teens and young adults alike. On average, college students come out of school with about $30,000 in student debt. We believe this is largely due to the lack of financial literacy materials available to students in our schools. Without the proper knowledge necessary to maintain finances, students are set up to fail once they are independent and make their own economic decisions. From creating a bank account to writing a check, these basic, yet essential, actions are not taught to us, leaving young adults to teach themselves. 

In order to take initiative on this largely unaddressed issue, we propose that all New York schools implement mandatory classes for all high school students to learn about financial literacy. By doing so, students will be prepared from a young age to make better financial decisions as an adult. This will greatly benefit all young adults in the long run and the world at large.